Saturday, May 29, 2010

It’s official! I will be starting Antioch University in the fall. I opened the letter right in the middle of the driveway despite the drizzle and quickly scanned for the only word I cared about: accepted. Isaias gave me a huge hug and I immediately started sobbing so hard the tears filled up my glasses. I wasn’t crying merely because I was admitted because I knew I would be, even before I applied. In fact, the woman who interviewed me said that I was a strong applicant and exactly the kind of person they were looking for. She said she would recommend me for admission and “see me in the fall.” I was crying because my dreams are starting to come true and a dream realized is a strange feeling. I am going to finish my BA and eliminate all the guilt I had for not finishing it when I was so close over a decade ago. And then I will go to graduate school to get an MA in Counseling Psychology and I will be able to start a private practice. The Plan that I made for myself at the beginning of the year is coming into fruition…and fucking WOW.

There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. There will be a last day at my current job. There will be a day when I don’t have to dread dealing with those difficult dysfunctional people. There will be a day when I will do what I do best and make money doing it!

My interviewer asked me simply at the beginning of our meeting “Why Antioch?” I told her that I had a very specific goal of doing graduate work in depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute and that an education at Antioch would be the best first step I could give myself. And so it begins, “the adventure the hero is ready for is the one that he gets,” said Joseph Campbell. I am ready for my adventure and I am equipped with everything that I need, including the thing that I haven’t had in the past—outside support. I have the support of a loving and wonderful man who has never discouraged me from following my path. And I have an excellent network of friends who have been my cheerleaders every step of the way. And I have my amazing psychotherapist who told me at our first session that everything I need to be successful can be found inside me. And that is why this time will be different.